Kansas State Basketball Signs Top Transfer To Multi-Million Dollar NIL Deal
The Kansas State Wildcats made a splash signing out of the transfer portal and made a big NIL promise to get it done.
Coleman Hawkins was the top remaining player left in the transfer portal before committing to Kansas State per NBA Insider Shams Charania.
As a part of the commitment, Nate Conley of Court XIV and Aaron Turner of Verus basketball negotiated a deal believed to be worth around $2 million from the Wildcats' NIL collective.
This would be the biggest deal in the sport.
It would also be a big step for the future of college basketball in terms of keeping athletes within the sport for a longer period of time.
The league minimum in the NBA for this past season was $1.12 million. A player could choose to stay in college and make more money rather than risking going to the league and getting cut, or playing in their developmental league.
While Hawkins is a good college player, he isn't the world-beating talent that one would expect to drive this kind of price tag. Last season, while at Illinois, he averaged 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 45.1 percent from the field.
This opens the door for other star players to use this deal as a precedent in the future to negotiate major compensation for themselves.
Kansas State has been one of the busiest teams in the country within the transfer portal, giving their roster an entirely new look.
Hawkins joins the following new players on the roster: Michigan guard Dug McDaniel, Cal State Fullerton guard Max Jones, Kentucky forward Ugonna Onyenso, and Samford forward Achor Achor.
Hawkins had toyed with the idea of going into the NBA draft but decided to come back for a final year of college development to help build his stock to become a potential pick on draft night.
While NIL likely played a very large role in his decision, he did also make headlines during the combine with an odd requirement for his school of choice: having a good football program.
"I will go somewhere where I can enjoy a football game," said the former Illinois forward. "Some schools have reached out. I've just been honest with them. I haven't wasted their time. I just flat out told them that's not somewhere I would consider going."
The Wildcats football team finished last season ranked No. 18 in the AP Poll and are expected to be a Top-25 team once again this season.
He also added that he would neither play in the Big Ten or Big East again.
Now, he finds himself in the new look Big 12.
DYLAN SANDERS
Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders